Female Voices Aren’t Being Heard in the Office

Slate’s DoubleX Gabfest discusses one tactic women in Washington are using to beat office sexism.

For Thursday’s edition of the DoubleX Gabfest Slate Plus bonus segment, hosts Hanna Rosin, June Thomas, and Noreen Malone discuss how women can ensure their voices are heard in meetings.

A recent story by the Washington Post describes a strategy called “amplification,” used by the female staffers who work with President Obama: that “when a woman made a key point, other women would repeat it, giving credit to its author.” The idea behind this? It effectively “[forces] the men in the room to recognize the contribution—and [denies] them the chance to claim the idea as their own.”

But if the most powerful women in Washington have to fight to have their voices heard, what does that say about women in the workplace? How do the hosts of the DoubleX Gabfest practice amplification in their own lives? And does it just boil down to the fact that meetings are sexist?